The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday slammed the Congress and other Opposition parties in the INDIA bloc, stating these parties chose to blame constitutional bodies like the Election Commission to cover up their electoral defeats.
Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Congress is “rudderless and directionless” and therefore, has chosen to deflect attention from its own electoral failures by pinning the blame on the poll panel.
“The Congress is attacking constitutional institutions for the sake of power. It cannot win the hearts of the people, so the frustrated Congress now wants power by defaming constitutional institutions, spreading anarchy and riots on the streets, lying, and misleading. The Congress’s condition is such that if the court’s decision does not go in its favor, it attacks the court. If it loses elections, it attacks the Election Commission,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
He said the Congress’s claims of protecting the Constitution ring hollow as the party is guilty of overthrowing elected governments “more than 90 times”. “They changed chief ministers like one changes clothes. They imposed the Emergency by strangling democracy in the country. What is the state of Congress today…it has been virtually wiped out in the major states of the country. In Tamil Nadu, it has been out of power for nearly 59 years, for 49 years in West Bengal, for 42 years in Sikkim…36 years in Bihar, 33 years in Tripura, 31 years in Gujarat,” he said.
The Union minister said aside from three-four states, the Congress has been reduced to merely a junior partner in the other states.
Chouhan said the grand old party does not even spare the army. “When the Indian Army crushes terrorists, it attacks the Army… Congress is a group of hooligans trying to spread chaos on the streets and oppose the system. Congress and the INDI Alliance has become a dangerous combination. It has now become a pawn in the hands of foreign powers,” he said.
Former Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur also criticised the Congress, stating that the party, which had trampled on democratic rights and imposed the Emergency cannot claim to speak up for the people.
He said Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was indulging in “theatrics and tantrums” and wants to “destabilise” the country by creating “chaos”.
He said the frequent allegations of “vote chori” were an insult to the people’s mandate.
“The situation has now deteriorated to the point where Rahul Gandhi is resorting to street-level language and making baseless allegations…This country needs truth, not noise. It needs evidence, not allegations. It needs clear answers, not political statements,” Thakur said.